187 Lamberta

Picture of the Day · NASA

Pathfinder on Mars

2026-07-04

On July 4th, 1997, using its own array of fireworks, a parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft bounced like a giant beach ball at least 15 times before it came to rest on the surface of Mars at 10:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time. After its then novel airbag-assisted landing sequence was completed, Pathfinder transmitted this color mosaic to mission operators on Earth. In the scene from another world, the Mars Sojourner robot rover is visible in the foreground, crouched on top of the unfolded Pathfinder. About the size of a large house cat, the six-wheeled, solar-powered Sojourner became the first successful Martian rover. Surrounding Pathfinder are deflated airbags and the rock-strewn terrain of the Ares Vallis floodplain. In the distance Martian hills appear against a dusty brownish sky. The Pathfinder lander was subsequently renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station.

via NASA APOD

Key facts

Discovered by

J. Coggia , 1878

Discovery date

11 April 1878

Pronunciation

/ l æ m ˈ b ɜːr t ə /

Alternative designations

A878 GB; 1946 LB;, 1948 XR

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

113.41 yr (41424 d)

Aphelion

3.3856 AU (506.48 Gm )

Perihelion

2.0695 AU (309.59 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.7276 AU (408.04 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.50 yr (1645.3 d )

Mean anomaly

217.42 °

Mean motion

0° 13 7.68 / day

Inclination

10.588°

Longitude of ascending node

21.707°

Argument of perihelion

196.93°

Earth moid

1.07102 AU (160.222 Gm)

Jupiter moid

1.60105 AU (239.514 Gm)

Mean diameter

141 ± 2 km , 147.294 ± 1.389 km , 131.3 ± 1.1 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

147.294

Orbital period

1648.523570499603

Image

Lamberta VLT.png

via Wikidata · CC0